Gold medals are illusory, world class public facilities should be the goal


Watering the soil of cultural participation would leave a greater legacy than any number of British Olympic champions

There was a memorable moment at the emotional zenith of the London Olympics, back in that strange time when it seemed so vitally important the home Games was a success, so deeply shocking that George Michael played “new material” – oh, that new material – at the closing ceremony, and when Boris Johnson was just a … well, actually that’s pretty much the same.

I don’t like to make Super Saturday too much about me, but it was also the moment I broke the record for witnessing British gold medals in a single day. There is no hard proof that my (yes, my) tally of six in 10 hours adds up to a British gold-witnessing record. But no one else seemed to be at all three things so I’m sticking to it, don’t email me.

Related: Team GB shifts Olympic focus from superpower to more human approach | Sean Ingle

Related: Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony – in pictures

Continue reading...